WRITING

PARAGRAPHS

BUILDING A PARAGRAPH• A PARAGRAPH IS A GROUP OF RELATED SENTENCES

DEVELOPING A SINGLE TOPIC

• THE SENTENCES THAT FOLLOW SHOULD BE RELATED IN TWO WAYS:

EACH SENTENCE SHOULD HELP DEVELOP THE TOPIC; AND

EACH SENTENCE SHOULD LEAD SMOOTHLY INTO THE THOUGHT OF THE NEXT

• A PARAGRAPH MAY END WITH A CLINCHER SENTENCE, A SENTENCE THAT “ROUNDS UP” THE PARAGRAPH BY PROVIDING A SUMMARY

PARTS OF A PARAGRAPHTOPIC SENTENCE

A TOPIC SENTENCE USUALLY COMES AT THE BEGINNING OF A PARAGRAPH; IT IS

THE MOST GENERAL SENTENCE IN A PARAGRAPH.

SUPPORTING DETAILSTHEY ARE CALLED "SUPPORTING"

BECAUSE THEY "SUPPORT," OR EXPLAIN, THE IDEA EXPRESSED IN THE TOPIC

SENTENCE.

COLORFUL VOCABULARYIT DISCUSSES FURTHERMORE ABOUT

THE WRITTEN DETAILS IN YOUR PREVIOUS SENTENCES.

CONCLUDING SENTENCEA SENTENCE AT THE END OF THE

PARAGRAPH WHICH SUMMARIZES THE INFORMATION THAT HAS BEEN

PRESENTED.

POINTERS IN WRITING A PARAGRAPHLIMIT YOUR PARAGRAPH TO A SINGLE TOPIC.

CHOOSE A TOPIC OF YOUR INTEREST AND KNOWLEDGE.

MAKE SURE THE SENTENCES YOU CREATE HAVE UNITY.

USE A TOPIC SENTENCE TO EXPRESS THE MAIN IDEA.

USE A CLINCHER WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

POINTERS IN WRITING A PARAGRAPHARRANGE THE DETAILS IN A PROPER AND ORDERLY WAY.

FEEL FREE TO USE DIFFERENT PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES.

USE TRANSITIONAL EXPRESSIONS TO RELATE IDEAS WITHIN THE PARAGRAPHS OR TO CREATE CONNECTION BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS.

SUIT THE THEME OR LANGUAGE OF YOUR PARAGRAPH TO YOUR TOPIC AND AUDIENCE.

AIM FOR A DEFINITE MOOD FOR A DEFINITE SITUATION.

TYPES OF PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT•BY DEFINITION. THE TOPIC IS DEVELOPED BY

DEFINITION OF CERTAIN TERMS CONNECTED WITH THE TOPIC.

•BY EXAMPLE. THE STATEMENT THAT GIVES EXAMPLE HELPS REINFORCE THE STATEMENT OR MAKE THE IDEAS CLEAR.

•BY GIVING REASONS. CERTAIN DETAILS ARE GIVEN TO SUBSTANTIATE THE IDEA.

TYPES OF PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT

•BY ANALOGY. SEVERAL PARAGRAPHS ARE DEVELOPED USING COMPARISON AND CONTRAST TO MAKE THE IDEA CLEAR.

•BY CAUSE-EFFECT EXPOSITION.

•BY EXPLANATION.

STRATEGIES USED IN PARAGRAPH BUILDINGUNITY – ACHIEVED IN PARAGRAPH

DEVELOPMENT IF EVERY SENTENCE CONTRIBUTES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOPIC OR THE SUB-TOPIC. SINCE A PARAGRAPH DEALS WITH ONLY ONE IDEA OR PART OF AN IDEA, NO ELEMENT SHOULD BE INCLUDED WHICH DOES NOT HELP IN DEVELOPING THE TOPIC.

STRATEGIES USED IN PARAGRAPH BUILDINGCOHERENCE – A PARAGRAPH HAS

COHERENCE IF THE SENTENCE DEVELOPING THE TOPIC OR SUB-TOPIC ARE ARRANGED IN A CLEAR, LOGICAL ORDER.• TIME ORDER – THE SIMPLEST AND BEST WAY OF ARRANGING

SENTENCES.

• SPACE ORDER – THE PARAGRAPH MOVES FROM THE NEAR TO DISTANT OR VICE VERSA; OR FROM RIGHT TO LEFT OR THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

• ORDER OF CLIMAX – THE IDEA OR TOPIC IS DEVELOPED FROM THE MOST IMPORTANT TO THE LEAST.

• SKELETON OUTLINE – THE BEST WAY TO SECURE COHERENCE.

STRATEGIES USED IN PARAGRAPH BUILDINGTHERE ARE OTHER WAYS OF SECURING COHERENCE IN PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT:

CONSISTENCY. AVOID SHIFT OF PERSON, NUMBER AND TENSE WITH CONSECUTIVE CLAUSES

PARALLELISM. IT IS THE REPETITION IN CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES OF SIMILAR WORDS TO EXPRESS IDEAS THAT ARE OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE

STRATEGIES USED IN PARAGRAPH BUILDINGEMPHASIS – SECURED IN THE SAME

MANNER THAT EMPHASIS IS OBTAINED IN SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION.

TO BE EMPHATIC, A PARAGRAPH MUST:

• HAVE A CLEAR AND CONCISELY WORDED TOPIC SENTENCE

• HAVE AN EFFECTIVE BEGINNING AND ENDING

• USE TRANSITIONAL EXPRESSIONS AND PARALLELISM

• AVOID SHORT, INADEQUATELY DEVELOPED PARAGRAPHS

LENGTHS OF PARAGRAPHSTHE LENGTH OF A PARAGRAPH IS DETERMINED BY:

1.THE SUBJECT TREATED

2.THE THOROUGHNESS BY WHICH THE WRITER WANTS TO DEVELOP THE TOPIC

3.THE MECHANICS OF WRITING

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